Throughout the medieval period there was no contribution to the subject of occupational diseases, and it was not until the sixteenth century that definite information relating to diseases of miners and workmen in dangerous trades was found. It was in the middle of the sixteenth century that two remarkable men, Agricola and Paracelsus wrote on the subject of miners diseases. Agricola described in "De re Metallica" (Agricola, 1556) the diseases that prevailed in the mining community.Paracelsus based his monograph on occupational diseases of mine smelter workers (Paracelsus, 1567) on his experience as town physician in Villach, Australia.